A stronghold Senior SP leader Naresh Agarwal, Hardoi had been electing him and his son since 1989. In 2014, though the BJP candidate from the Hardoi Lok Sabha constituency, Anshul Verma, had won the parliamentary seat he had trailed behind the SP candidate by 6214 votes in the Hardoi assembly segment. The forthcoming 2017 assembly election to Hardoi is poised for triangular contest among the BJP, SP and BSP.